SHARP Literacy and MSOE unveil interactive Honey Bee Robot
| Published: 01/14/2013 |
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Sixty first grade students were among the first to see a new interactive honey bee robot based on “A Busy Bee: The Story of Bella the Honey Bee,” a book recently published by SHARP Literacy. Tim DeLeo, an MSOE electrical engineering student, designed the robot to help children learn and have fun at the same time.
SHARP Literacy Inc. and MSOE joined together to develop the interactive robot as a learning tool for children in first through fifth grade who attend schools with the SHARP Literacy curriculum. SHARP students helped create the book for which the robot was built.
The honey bee robot is three feet tall and has a 10.5 inch LCD display screen with an 11 button capacity touch pad. Buttons can be depressed to ask questions, learn about bee parts, learn about the waggle dance and more. The robots antennas and wings move and the rear end shakes which illustrates a bee’s waggle dance. There are also LEDs on the mandibles, pollen basket and stinger. DeLeo collaborated with local sculptor Tom Queoff who donated his time and developed a urethane mold of the bee which produced the translucent exterior or shell. Queoff is an internationally acclaimed sculptor.
DeLeo, an Air Force veteran and electrical engineering student at MSOE, developed the interactive robot as part of an independent study class called Project Management and Servant Leadership. Dr. Leah Newman was his professor. The course blends project management with the tenants of servant leadership. Funding for the robot was provided by the Brady Corporation Foundation Inc., and DeLeo collaborated with Chris Thuss, a project management consultant from Brady Corp. This was one of 23 Brady-funded projects last year at MSOE that promoted servant leadership in project management and benefitted the community. DeLeo’s robot helps children learn and have fun at the same time. The interactive display includes information about a bee’s life, based on the book’s content.
Students who participate in the SHARP Literacy curriculum research different topics. Last year’s theme was honey bees, based on science and the life cycle of growing things. More than 500 students from 15 Milwaukee-area schools submitted writing and drawing samples that were used to develop the 10th book in SHARP’s “Love to Learn” book series titled “A Busy Bee, The Story of Bella the Honey Bee.”
MSOE is an independent, non-profit university with about 2,500 students. MSOE offers 20 bachelor’s degrees and nine master’s degrees in engineering, business, mathematics and nursing. The university has a national academic reputation; longstanding ties to business and industry; dedicated professors with real-world experience; a 94% placement rate; and the highest average starting and mid-career salaries of any Wisconsin university according to PayScale Inc. MSOE graduates are well-rounded, technologically experienced and highly productive professionals and leaders.